Furniture Store Design Tips and Merchandising Basics

Room dimensions and layout

The first thing you need to do when selecting furniture is to take into account the dimensions of the room, and draw up a design project based on these parameters. What is needed is not just good taste or quality, but attention to detail and the right engineering solutions. You can simply measure the room using a tape measure or look at the exact dimensions in the apartment layout.

It is very important to design an apartment in order to understand exactly where the closet will be located, and where the bed or TV will be located. This takes into account the location of the window, natural light, other furniture and interior elements. Where artificial light sources are located is also important.

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In the photo: Living room interior in an apartment in the style of modern classics

If the length of the wall, for example, is 5 meters and the width is 3, then it is clear that a sofa up to 2 meters long, a wardrobe, a table, and other furniture can be placed here. It is important to calculate several diagrams and after that decide exactly how to place furniture in the room.

When developing a design, furniture and a certain interior style are most often selected at the same time. Then everything will fit perfectly. You can select furniture after apartment renovation, but it is better to plan everything in advance.

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In the photo: Bedroom interior in a Scandinavian style apartment

Designer tips for choosing furniture for your home: beautiful poufs and couches

The stool has cousins. First of all, this is a pouf - the main “comforter”, a stool with a soft top. Why might it be useful? Sit in a chair - propped up under your feet. We returned home, sat down and took off our shoes in comfort. Where a stool seems inappropriately hard, it will be replaced by an ottoman - the best friend of a kinesthetic learner.

This is the very detail that harmoniously completes the overall impression of the interior. A pouf is not only beautiful, but also a surprisingly multifunctional item. It can be of any shape and size, with or without a storage container inside, round, square (not rectangular), triangular, etc. For small apartments, a pouf attached to the sofa, which can serve as both an extension of the sofa and a coffee table, is a thing irreplaceable. How to choose furniture for an apartment so that it matches other interior items? It is customary to combine the upholstery of an ottoman with the upholstery of a sofa or armchair, curtains or wallpaper. But it also looks great as a bright accent that complements the accessory. Especially if it has an interesting shape.

Another cousin of the stool is the banquette. One of its best uses is in the bedroom, at the foot of the bed. It’s convenient to fold a blanket over it and throw a robe on it. If space allows, be sure to place it. The bench adds completeness to the bedroom and is good for both classic and modern interiors.

Designer Tips for Furniture Arrangement: A banquette is usually placed if the bed does not have a decorative footboard. If there is one, it can block the decor. Then you can find another convenient place for it. The standard length of a banquette is 120 cm, width – 40 cm. A banquette is also useful in a spacious hallway as an analogue of an ottoman.

Below we tell you what other furniture you can put in the room.

What other furniture can be placed in the room: chaise longues and couches

There are also a couple of interesting pieces of furniture that at first glance may seem like useless relics of antiquity. This is partly true. For example, a chaise longue. Why do we need it? It was invented for ladies in full dresses, to position themselves comfortably and to ruffle the frills of a huge skirt.

However, wait to pass up this cute little sofa with one armrest and half-length backrest. This exquisite decorative accessory is a visual delight! Chaises come in the most unusual shapes and colors. Place a chaise longue in the hallway or hall instead of a banquette and enjoy the admiration of your guests! Where sometimes you want to sit down, stretching out your legs comfortably, but there is nowhere to put a sofa, a chaise longue will help out. Even in the kitchen there is a place for it along a free wall. The chaise longue will fit better into a classic interior, art deco, modern, Provence, and eclecticism.

A more applicable item in the modern world is a couch. It can be useful for daytime rest, or as a decorative sleeping place, for example, in a nursery, when you need both a bed and a sofa, or when friends come over. The size of the couch is close to a single bed and, as a rule, has decorative armrests or a small backrest. If you have a small office or guest room, the couch will fit perfectly. And it won’t take up much space, and there will be a ready-made sleeping place that doesn’t need to be folded out like a sofa to lie down. This is actually the “useful part of the sofa.”

The following describes how to choose the right bedroom furniture.

Is it worth hiring a designer?

If you can’t choose the optimal furniture arrangement, then you need to contact a professional designer. It is important that this is a real specialist with work experience and a portfolio.

The decision to hire a professional designer has the following advantages:

• Save time. You can completely save yourself from all the hassle. A specialist will personally select furniture from a wide variety of available options. A designer can look at hundreds of models at a time, which will take a lot of time for an unprepared person.
• Quality assurance. If an experienced professional gets down to business, then there is no doubt that he will take into account all possible nuances and subtleties. A good specialist is able not only to depict a picture that is pleasing to the eye, but also to turn it into reality. Ideally, the customer will find it pleasant and comfortable to live in the finished interior.
• Convenience and aesthetics. The main reason why many people prefer to use the services of professionals is the desire to get a beautiful and ergonomic home. Properly selected and arranged furniture plays a huge role in this.
• Saving money. At first glance, the services of a professional designer are an expensive solution. However, in reality, such a specialist can always suggest what is worth saving on, what should be abandoned, and what will be a waste of money and will result in additional expenses.

Furniture in a design project can be specified as concrete, and not as abstract solutions. For example, a certain model of sofa or chair that is currently on sale.

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In the photo: Living room interior in an Art Deco style apartment

Selection rules

The quality of the material plays a decisive role in choosing good furniture. The most expensive furniture is made from natural wood, in particular solid wood. Not only will you have to take special care of it, but buying such furniture is also a lottery - if it is not dried properly, the material will become deformed after some time. It is also necessary to take into account the location of the item, since high air humidity, as well as its lack, also threatens the deformation of the furniture.

It is customary to use hard wood, such as oak or cherry, since soft wood is rated slightly lower. In practice, solid wood is used very rarely - it is very difficult to work with. Glued laminated wood is not inferior to solid wood in quality, because it does not deform from excessive dryness or moisture. Often it is covered with veneer, which gives the material the appearance of solid wood. When purchasing an item, you need to check it for cracks and chips.

An alternative to natural wood can be MDF and chipboard. The first option is as close as possible to natural material in its characteristics, including resistance to temperature changes and high humidity. Wood shavings are used as a binder. As for chipboard, you should choose such a material only if you do not have the funds for the above options. When choosing, you need to look at the class. It can be E1, E2, E3. Class E1 is suitable for the home, which means a low level of formaldehyde evaporation.

It is important to look at the edge of the furniture. If you notice places that are not covered by a decorative edge, then it is better to abandon such furniture. The absence of an edge threatens the release of formaldehyde fumes into the air. The best materials for edging are PVC, aluminum and melamine. It is better not to choose melamine, as this indicates that the piece of furniture is of poor quality. There is no need to skimp on fittings, guides and legs. Cheap hinges will lead to creaking doors and sagging. The same applies to fastening materials.

Saving on accessories will lead to additional expenses in the future. High-quality and not very expensive fittings are products from Hafele, Hettich, Blum.

As for furniture legs, they can be static or adjustable. Not only the appearance of the furniture, but also its functionality depends on their choice. In some situations, you need to adjust the position of the furniture so that it is aligned with the door. This is required for the cabinet to open normally. Adjustable legs allow you to ignore existing floor problems. Roller feet allow you to easily move the item without fear of it damaging the floor covering.

Here's what you need to know about build quality:

1. Even just good furniture can be damaged if it was assembled by unqualified specialists;
2. Self-assembly should only be done with complete confidence in your abilities;
3. Telltale signs of poor assembly include sagging shelves, cabinets that don't slide out well, or a cabinet that's warped.

Furniture dimensions

Most often, manufacturers indicate the exact dimensions of furniture. If you have the opportunity to inspect the product in person, you should take a tape measure with you to measure its dimensions. Sometimes even a centimeter is important, and there may be an error in the characteristics.

The main indicators of furniture dimensions are height, width, depth.

It is necessary to take into account the dimensions of individual elements if the design is modular and consists of several parts. The mattress is carefully selected to match the frame of the bed or sofa. For a sofa, the size of the sleeping area is important, especially if it is planned to be used for these purposes, and it folds out.

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In the photo: Bedroom interior in an Art Deco style apartment

Availability of niches, capacity

A modern apartment looks spacious if it is not cluttered with various objects and things. Particular attention should be paid to various niches (for bedding in the bed, sofa). Cabinets must be spacious. Today it is important to use furniture with hidden niches and doors. A visual feeling of an almost empty room will be created, which is important, for example, for a style such as minimalism. It will be easier to clean the room, and niches and cabinet compartments will protect things from dust.

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Materials – safety, comfort, durability

Not only its durability, but also the comfort of use and safety depend on the choice of material for making furniture. No matter how beautiful natural leather is considered, it is uncomfortable to sleep on such upholstery. Velor is quite difficult to clean, it attracts all the dust. There are many other options you can consider, but the principle remains the same.

Furniture safety is one of the most important criteria. It is worth checking the manufacturer's certificates. The least harmful are natural materials and those close to them - wood, stone, glass, steel.

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In the photo: Living room interior in an Art Deco style apartment

Most budget furniture is made from chipboard, fiberboard, and MDF. The safety of such furniture is difficult to assess; they even contain formaldehyde, which is hazardous to health.

No less attention should be paid to the mattress fillings. Polyurethane is found in almost every product, but after a few years it becomes like dust or flour, can become a dangerous substance for the respiratory system and lead to serious allergic reactions.

High-quality and durable furniture is often very heavy, and this is also not the best criterion for a modern interior. Furniture often has to be moved for cleaning. And it’s easier to change the interior by rearranging objects if the furniture is light.

Furniture made from natural wood, or as it is also called “solid wood” furniture

This is an undeniable classic that has been tested by more than one generation. The ability of wood to be stained makes it possible to obtain furniture of various colors, and modern technologies make it possible to give the wood an aging effect and other various combinations.

The main advantages of natural wood facades are:

• solidity

• environmental friendliness

One cannot do without disadvantages, which include

• high cost (valuable wood species)

• afraid of dampness

• the ends of all slab materials must be covered with edge materials

, which gives the product a complete appearance and at the same time prevents the evaporation of formaldehyde from the chipboard during operation. All “contact” parts (countertops, laminated chipboard facades) must be covered with modern plastic edge material PVC or better ABS with a thickness of 1-2 mm. At the same time, there should be no glue left on the surfaces, which spoils the aesthetic appearance of the furniture and indicates low-quality equipment and hot melt adhesive.

• Countertops.
  Countertops can be moisture-resistant or not moisture-resistant. For furniture used in the kitchen, it is recommended to use waterproof countertops that will last you a long time. Both are divided by thickness. Worktops with a thickness of 38-40mm are chosen mainly for aesthetic reasons; the kitchen will look presentable and will last much longer.

• Accessories.
  The durability of the doors, the smooth movement of the drawers and, in general, the ease of use of furniture items depend on its quality and reliability. Uneven gaps, drawers that move with effort, sagging doors - all this indicates that the manufacturer uses low-quality, cheap fittings.
• Loops.
  Hinges are an element of furniture fittings, thanks to which furniture doors are attached to the walls of furniture bodies. For hinges, the price directly depends on the quality. Cheap ones will not last long, while more expensive ones will last much longer, they are more convenient and of better quality. Pay attention to the number of hinges on furniture doors; there should be at least 2 hinges. at 1m/p
• Guides.
  Used for boxes.

There are:

• roller,
• ball,
• metaboxes,
• tandemboxes.

All of them are used mainly in the production of kitchen furniture, making it more functional. In turn, roller guides and ball guides have lost their relevance, since their use indicates the manufacture of sidewalls from chipboard. Whereas metaboxes and tandemboxes are the sides (body) of the box. They have taken their rightful place in the modern kitchen, they are more practical than a chipboard box, and more elegant, which is not unimportant.

Pay attention to the manufacturer of the furniture you choose. Be sure to go to the manufacturer’s website and find out how long the enterprise has been operating, what equipment is used in this production, read reviews from customers.

We wish you a great choice. And let the furniture you choose add comfort and harmony to your home.

Zoning

Some furniture can perform zoning functions, which is very important for any room. For example, a hall can be divided into relaxation and work areas, with the correct arrangement of cabinets, beds and sofas. At the same time, for zoning it is not necessary to buy additional partitions or other products for similar purposes.

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In the photo: Living room interior in an Art Deco style apartment

The benefits of zoning include:

• dividing one room into several functional zones - even if the apartment has one large room, it can be visually made into two or three;
• the space remains as light and free as possible - when using compact structures made of transparent or light materials, natural light continues to flow into the room;
• You can transform your existing interior on a budget - just use existing furniture; with enough imagination, it will cope perfectly with the tasks.

What does a set of office furniture consist of?

First of all, let's look at what rooms each modern office consists of. The main thing it consists of is its employees and their workplaces, as well as the reception areas where guests are greeted, meeting rooms and executive offices. So, no modern office can be imagined without:

• Tables, which come in various types. In terms of shape, there are straight, angular or ergonomic models, which are distinguished by an L-shaped tabletop and are most often equipped with mobile and attached cabinets. Also, tables are divided by design and purpose (meeting rooms, for managers, staff, visitors). Transforming tables are considered popular models recently. They are rarely used for workplaces. Most often they are used when arranging offices, in which the functionality and purpose often change. For example, today these are workplaces, tomorrow - a conference hall where people gather for negotiations, the day after tomorrow - a work class where trainings take place. Tables with variable height (from 600 to 1200 mm) are also becoming very popular. They are relevant for decorating workshops and work areas of architects and designers, since they allow you to perform work both sitting and standing.
• Desk screens and partitions, which have recently become increasingly important, as they allow not only to divide the workspace of each employee, but also to minimize contact between them. Table partitions can be made in addition to a series of furniture, or they can be made to order from various colors and materials (chipboard, fabric, wood, glass, plexiglass, in an aluminum frame). There are X-, W-, T- and U-shaped desktop screens.
• Chairs, armchairs and sofas, the choice of which is influenced by location and purpose.
• Booths - there are roll-out (mobile), attached, stationary, attached and others. Depending on the purpose, there are cabinets for documents, office equipment, service cabinets, and cabinets with a frigobar.
• Cabinets for documents or clothes. They can be open, closed, semi-closed, corner, narrow, high, low, deep. Also, there are sliding wardrobes equipped with a combination of different compartments, shelves, doors, so they can accommodate not only clothes, but also other things, incl. and documents.
• Shelving - for storing various types of documentation.
• Additional accessories.

Manufacturer's choice

When choosing furniture, people most often pay attention to the brand and country of the manufacturer. Thus, wealthy people prefer to purchase furniture from Italy and therefore turn to companies that work directly with Italian suppliers. But, perhaps, the most convenient and best option is to work with companies with their own production, which make furniture no worse than Italian factories. Also an advantage are timing and delivery - we all value our time, and when we order furniture, we want it to be ready by the time the renovation is completed and without additional costs.

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In the photo: Living room interior in an Art Deco style apartment

How to choose a quality manufacturer?

It’s difficult to find a quality manufacturer lately, but it’s possible if:

1. Decide on the country of manufacture.
2. Russia and the CIS countries are also relevant, but it is better to consider other countries. These are Italy and Germany.
3. Imported furniture is distinguished by its quality and high transportation costs. And the domestic one has a lower price with relatively equal quality.
4. Read reviews about manufacturers. We advise you to double-check the information received several times. For what? It happens quite often that competition sometimes spreads false rumors that reach customers.

Types of furniture

It is worth highlighting the following types of furniture:

1. Corpus. The main advantage is the availability of modules of different sizes, which are united by a common style and design. Such furniture can be used for zoning, change its arrangement over time and be used to decorate different rooms.
2. Built-in. Such furniture structurally fits perfectly into the room, allows rational use of every centimeter of space, and often blends in with the walls in appearance. The only caveat is that the structures cannot be moved after installation.
3. Soft. You can immediately decide on the color and texture of the furniture upholstery material, and if necessary, change it during use. Another advantage is the wide variety of colors.

   
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   In the photo: Living room interior in a neoclassical style apartment

4. Frameless. This is the most comfortable furniture, suitable for people of any build. For example, bean bags completely follow the curves of the body, do not have rigid elements, and therefore are safe for use even in children's rooms. Most often, the internal fillings of furniture without a frame are environmentally friendly, and the external covers are easy and quick to change.
5. Modular. This is an ideal solution for small apartments, since all parts of the modular furniture set are compact in size. The buyer does not have to select products for a long time - all modules are already combined with each other. When moving, they are easy to transport, and most of the set does not even have to be disassembled.

How to choose children's furniture

“When arranging a nursery, you will have to think not only about how to choose furniture for it, but also about additional little things that will help it fit into the unusual interior.”

The room where children live is an incredibly complex space in which areas for playful games are interspersed with a work area and a sleeping area.

Children's room interior

It is clear that a whole series of pieces of furniture will ensure his comfort. It is important that any piece of furniture that appears in the room absolutely corresponds to the age and needs of the child, therefore the main criteria for their selection should be:

• Compactness.
• Thoughtfulness.
• Functionality.

It is very important to equip the children's room with functional furniture.

Properly selected furnishings will help organize order in the children's room and at the same time free up enough space for active games.

There should be space for games in the nursery

The furniture available in the nursery should help the child develop mentally and physically, as well as create a psychologically comfortable environment for him. When arranging a nursery, you will have to think not only about how to choose furniture for it, but also about additional little things that will help it fit into the unusual interior.

Original shelving in the children's room

The furniture designs you choose should be made from environmentally friendly materials, not pose a health risk in terms of injuries and not provoke allergic reactions. It's good if the items have an original design. In small children's rooms, it is more practical to install ergonomic furniture, such as modular or multi-tiered. Believe me, a child has absolutely no need for a luxurious chair covered in leather and a huge table. He is still very far from the concept of status. However, an armored bed with a hastily put together bedside table is not a solution.

Ergonomic furniture in the children's room

Designers can tell you how to successfully choose furniture for a nursery. Professionals categorically advise against dividing a room into rigid functional zones, so as not to arouse children's aversion to learning. What should be present in the interior? Sleeping area. What it should be, stationary, transformable or suspended, you will decide based on the layout of the room. You will need: a closet, a computer desk, several chairs and, of course, many spacious shelves where you could place an ever-growing fleet of vehicles or an expanding collection of dolls.

A hanging bed will free up additional space for games in the children's room

It is important that the furniture does not have complex structures, the drawers and doors in it open easily, and the child does not need to reach for the handles. Green light of bright furniture. Children love everything colorful and you shouldn’t deprive them of this pleasure.

Bright accents will brighten up a child's room

Style and colors

It is important that the furniture is harmoniously combined with the style and color of the interior. To do this, you need to think through everything, and sometimes visualize it using a professional or software. The sofa can stand out in contrast against the background of the entire bedroom or wall.

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In the photo: Living room interior in a classic style apartment

It is advisable to use two or three main shades when decorating. Natural tones - white, brown and black, green - combine especially well with each other. In modern interiors, chrome or mirror parts are actively used. They can visually expand the space. Light colors make the space lighter and weightless.

Detail 5: color

The choice of color does not affect the quality of upholstered furniture. But it’s worth taking into account if you want the furniture to delight you with its newness for as long as possible.

If there are small children in the house, then it is better to refuse to buy light upholstered furniture. Otherwise, your sofa and chairs will quickly become dirty.

Leather furniture is not suitable for apartments and houses with animals. Cats or dogs can damage delicate upholstery.

Dark furniture upholstery will quickly fade in the sun near the window, and it is better not to buy bright sofas and armchairs if you have covered the room with multi-colored wallpaper - such an abundance of bright colors will quickly tire you.